In an interview with the American AWPer, we talked about facing Vega Squadron, a team he described as "coordinated chaos", his absence from the Majors and his teammate Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker.

Going into the match against Vega, they are a team that a lot of people can't understand how they play. What did you do to prepare for their game style and to get this win here?

It seems like the general consensus about Vega is that they are a very loose, unexpected-type of a team. That makes sense and we experienced that, we actually played them in practice during the bootcamp. They kind of ran around everywhere and ran all over us. Going into the match we were actually expecting to play Cache because it is a popular map for them, as well as for us. We thought we could kind of bait them into the pick by vetoing Mirage, which is also a map we are comfortable with, but a very strong map for them.

Unfortunately, all of our preparation for Cache kind of went out of the window when they went for Inferno, but regardless of preparation, we are still really confident on the map, we've only played Inferno throughout the whole first New Challenger Stage. We figured that because of that they would probably do a lot of anti-stratting because we only played Inferno and they picked it instead of going for Cache, it was unusual. So stanislaw had that in his mind when he was making the calls and, taking advantage of it, anti-stratting the anti-strat, if that makes sense. So that was the game plan going into the game.

stanislaw had [the fact that they probably anti-stratted us] in his mind when he was making the calls, taking advantage of it, anti-stratting the anti-strat

Yeah, we had a slow start, losing pistol, and we managed to win a lot of rounds straight. And on the T-side pistol the whole idea was great, we ended up in a 3v1 situation, which we blew because of some miscommunications. That was unfortunate, it gave them some momentum to get a string of rounds. It felt like in our early gun rounds, we were trying to make individual plays to just secure the match because we were so close, and it was just costing us rounds. As soon as we slowed down, reset, and found our rythm, things started going forward.

So you feel like the pressure to close the game, especially with a lot at stake?

Definitely, there was a round where we were 5v4 and I think stanislaw wanted us to fall off or just hold but we ended up trying to walk into B, I thought I would beat the spool guy's contact, so I peeked spawn where I shouldn't have and that cost the 4v4 reset. And you can't do those - which is a lesson learned obviously.

Just talking about Vega's style, unstructured and wild, can you draw any parallels to playing lower-tier NA teams, when you are playing open qualifiers or similar stuff? Are there any similarities between the two?

The thing, playing NA teams, people are going and individually making plays, but Vega Squadron is definitely a really good team. It is coordinated chaos, if that makes sense. That crazy play, that is unexpected, you can clearly see that they are communicating very well while they are doing it, they are working together, so I can't really compare it to NA teams. It is a style that works for them, luckily we came out on top today, but I still think very highly of them as a team.

Vega Squadron is definitely a really good team. It is coordinated chaos, if that makes sense. That crazy play, that is unexpected, you can clearly see that they are communicating very well while they are doing it

Tell me how you feel about the group stage that you played here, the performances you put in as a team?

I'm very happy with our performance, to be completely honest, you know, our first matchup was against Astralis, the current best team in the world I think anyone would say. So we can't be too heartbroken over that defeat. We had to focus on what was ahead. It is super unfortunate about the Space Soldiers situation, but we still have to do what we have to do, regardless of that. Going into the BIG match was where we really showed what we were capable of, I think we were extreme underdogs in that match. Even going into it, I think all of the guys were confident that we were going to be the better team.

You made the Major for the first time since Cloud9, a lot of time passed, you went through a lot of teams; Conquest, OpTic, Echo Fox, Misfits... Do you feel like you found a stable home now in compLexity here?

Oh my god, of course. Someone like me, I've played for so many organizations, so many different rosters, it is all, honestly, a great experience that created the player I am today, I definitely learned a lot through the years. compLexity is an organization like no other I've never experienced, they truly treat me like they care about me, they make sure we have everything we need, it is like a big family, and honestly, I'd never want to go anywhere else. I hope I can retire under compLexity.

compLexity truly treat me like they care about me, they make sure we have everything we need, it is like a big family, and honestly, I'd never want to go anywhere else. I hope I can retire under compLexity

Tell me about the feeling of getting to the Major, adding your name to the list with your second attended, which is a big achievement for a lot of players?

It is been a looooong, hard work, I always felt like I got really screwed with Minors previously. Even though Echo Fox, and then going to TSM and Misfits, we would qualify for the Minor and then a roster change would go down and we would be able to go to the Minor. So I think three Minors in a row, for three different Majors, I didn't get to play in. And you know, I always felt like I was cursed, that I kept getting screwed, that I'm missing out on these Majors, I stay at home and I watch them... I love CS, I watch all the Majors, all the matches and with Misfits, with the last one we were so close, against Space Soldiers, our decider match was a 13-16 loss on Train. Being so close to that and losing was heartbreaking. Now, finally, I'm speechless, I can't believe it. I won't lie, I went outside and cried.

ShahZam is impressed by the commitment of compLexity's young gun yay

I wanted to ask you about your teammate yay, who is the youngster not many people know about. He's been playing for compLexity for a while, but outside of that, he didn't play a lot of international tournaments, this is his first Major and all of that. What can people expect from him in the next stage?

He is a phenomenal player, I don't think I've ever seen anyone dedicate as much individual time into their own mechanics and skill. He is super young and super committed, he's got that dedication and I love it, I love playing with him. I think that, in previous times, before I and stanislaw joined up, he and ANDROID didn't have any leadership to really guide them the right way. I think that is a big problem in the NA scene, you've got all of these talented players that have the work ethic, the mentality, but they don't really have the right leaders to guide them and really teach them how to play proper CS, how to be good teammates... It is shown, it is fortunate that stanislaw is good at doing that, we are really lucky to have him because otherwise players would be rotting away, not really reaching their full potential. We are very lucky to have stanislaw.

I've seen maybe 1 or 2 ShahZam fans on here over the years.
Brown Paki guy with toxic behavior in the past, plus the C9/OpTic debacle certainly doesn't endear himself to HLTV users.
I generally think he's a solid player. His game has matured a little, but still has a tendency to re-peek too much with the awp and take stupid battles. That being said, he's very capable with rifles, which is an asset.

U a linguist?
Outside linguistics, the term grammar is often used in a rather different sense. In some respects, it may be used more broadly, including rules of spelling and punctuation, which linguists would not typically consider to form part of grammar, but rather as a part of orthography, the set of conventions used for writing a language.

Ugh not to be the prick who disagrees with everything but orthography and grammar aren't really the same. As a native portuguese speaker at at very least, there's a wall between what we call "ortografia" and "gramática", this meaning that orthography is related to spelling specifically and grammar includes all the qualities of a well spoken language.
EDIT: Wrong reply

For some of those people its not just a game. Its their job and it brings them success and recognition. I wouldn't be mistaken if I'd say that many would get emotional to the point of crying if effort pays off enough to make your dreams come true. (._.')

They say NA minor is a joke, one qualified
They say CIS minor is a joke, BOTH could qualify
They say asian minor is a joke, one could qualify regarding match w spirit
They say EU minor is the best, potentially only one will qualify

Well sir faggotalot, you will see how those minors actually work in the next major, 3rd team from eu against 3rd team from asia.
Ence v Tainted Minds xd Now you see? Its not a problem having two decent teams in a region, like please asia has Tyloo and renegades and no one else.
And btw europe most likely will take 5/8 spots in this major qualifier and you say eu is not the best region?
Cis will have 0 teams, NA 1, Cis 1, EU 5 and Hellraisers dont count towards any region (2 eu, 2 cis, 1 asia)